inklings

…and the night it is aching. I have dull-red bruises on both knees, one elbow, and my hips. My shoulder muscles are knotted like whoa and I have foot cramps. And no, I didn’t get them the usual way Hawkmoon!Larry gets them, sadly - WE JUST WENT SURFING OMG.

Twelve hours ago, Nessie was peeling an indian mango to bring with us to the beach. Eleven hours ago, we were headed to the surf hut, our fingers sticky from eating lychees and mango. Ten hours ago, Nessie and I hobbled back to Bebe and the shore with wide grins on our faces and sea-salt in our nostrils.

Rewind. Ray, my surf instructor (Nessie got Jojo; Bebe didn’t want to surf and chose to soak up the sun sitting in the sand) taught me how to push up from a prone position and slide my feet slowly up the length of the board, knees bent, arms out for balance. Easy - on the sand. Then we went out.

And - "PADDLE!" *paddle, paddle, paddle, paddle* Ow my arms are aching can we stop already? Then turn around, here comes the wave, ready, "TAYO!" And UP and I was standing up OMG for all of five seconds WHEEEE and the wave whipped from behind and down I went, oof, except it wasn’t an oof, it was more of a mgurgle? and back again and back and forth and the waves stung my eyes and throat and Ray pointing and laughing and Nessie hitting her butt on one of the rocks and me worrying about jellyfish. Ray said the best thing was (after getting the jellyfish off) was to pour sand and vinegar over the stung area - which, thankfully, I did not have to do, because the waves were strong and the jellyfish wouldn’t have come near or they’d have been dashed into - er - jelly.

My knees clunked clumsily against the board all the time, and the wax was coming off because of my fingernails, and the best thing about going under was having your leg pulled up by the cord fastened to the surfboard. Sure, the waves rolled and pushed you down and you’d think, Oh no, this is the end and then your feet would hit sand (or rock, depends on how unlucky you are) there’d be a TUG and you’d be clawing your way back to the top and clambering aboard again and paddling, paddling, no end of paddling, waiting, pushing up, standing for a precious few seconds till your knees buckle and you lose balance and plunge in again into the warm salty water.

Nessie was spectacular, don’t you know. Bebe took pictures from the shore, but she’s asleep now, so maybe tomorrow.

I WANT ANOTHER GO.